Transformers Legends
by Go-Faster-Wings
Summary: Starting off in the middle of a legend, Optimus Prime and his crew on the Ark-12 chase after Decepticons departing Earth, both faction's homes for the last several years. But, the Decepticons have something that may prove shocking to all bots. . . with the exception of Optimus Prime himself. The ramifications of keeping things hidden from your teammates haunts Prime throughout.


As Optimus decided upon whether or not to follow the Decepticons, he realized that Blurr had already made the choice for him. This was not uncommon, however; Blurr didn't much like sitting around waiting to be told what to do. He only wanted to make decisions fast or have someone else make them so he could execute them with the swiftest of movements. Once, on Beta-9, Blurr, under the command of Impactor, decided to take the assault into his own hands by running straight into the Decepticon's base and dismantling all of their weapons before anyone even knew he was there. Being extremely quick at most everything he does, this kind of practice did not go unnoticed; even though he had ignored superior orders in the past, Blurr has always been a wonderful asset to any given mission, and quickly moved up in rank to be a part of Optimus Prime's own crew aboard the _Ark-12._

Blurr kicked the cruiser into high gear and went straight for the Decepticons. With the engines at max speed, Blurr felt right at home, but it seemed Optimus did not approve of what he was doing. Behind him, Blurr could hear the clanking of the crew as they all fell backward and forward as they all accelerated to light-speed.

"What the hell is that maniac doing now?!" was the general consensus going about the bridge at this time. Blurr didn't quite know that yet himself, but he'd soon figure it out.

Blurr peered off to his right and then to his left and Optimus Prime caught his eye. The boss looked directly at him and Blurr cringed as he though of what his punishment might be. "Blurr, we are not to leave Earth! Do you understand me? WE ARE NOT TO LEAVE EARTH. Turn this ship around this instant." Blurr did not do what he was told. Instead, the ship's engines began to become maxed out as more and more power was swiftly rerouted to its core. Everyone knew exactly what was to come next; the engines were going to blow.

"You have already demoted yourself from this ship's pilot by your actions. Do you wish for me to keep gong?" Optimus continued, but this was totally ignored by the tall blue 'bot. The next words that came out of the commander's mouth were not, however. "Prowl, get over there and STOP HIM." Moving close to Blurr as fast as he could with the ship going as fast as it is, Prowl removed his stasis cuffs from his abdomen plate. Blurr knew the next part all too well.

Before he could get away, Prowl locked his hands together and a sudden shock went through Blurr's mobile processors. Everything went black for who knows how long.

With Blurr out of the way, Prowl assumed the role as pilot of the craft and screamed in Hound's direction, keeping his focus on the ever approaching asteroid belt, "Where are we, Hound?!"

"Right in front of the asteroid belt separating this solar system's planets between rocks and gaseous- LEFT!"

Prowl veered to the left just before a large asteroid was able to hit the ship. "Which way do I turn to get back to Earth?!" Prowl screeched as he just misses another rock.

Hound, making a few short calculations on his holo-map of the nearby vicinity, hollered back, "40 degrees to your right!" As Prowl made the adjustment, Sideswipe, off to the left manning the controls to the power generator, of which Blurr hacked with ease from the pilot's area, began to panic as he said, " The Decepticons were behind us-we must have outrun them or something-now with our turns we're headed straight for them!"

"SCRAP" screamed Prowl and Hound simultaneously. Optimus Prime, ever calm, gave his orders.

"Alert Kup to get all photon lasers ready and aimed to the front of the ship. We've got our chance now-let's not waste it." Sideswipe did as he was told and Prowl kept the ships steady as the photon lasers, just visible off the bow through the front energy field, moved to place. The fast coming Decepticon warship appeared to be doing the same thing; quickly as if they had just realized the location of the Autobot craft. Optimus gave the order from his command chair, and Sideswipe relayed it to Kup. It seemed as if Megatron had just given the same order, for great flashes of light soon began to fill the entire front of the ship. Rumbling continuously occurred, but according to Sideswipe's screaming updates, nothing serious to the ship's functioning had yet been hit. Apparently happy with this, Optimus told Prowl to increase speed.

"But we'll ram 'em and we'll ALL be goners!" Hound protested.

"No, we won't," Optimus confirmed. "I know Megatron. He will not sacrifice himself to kill me. He will let up."

"And if he doesn't?"

"We'll see about-" Just then Optimus realized Megatron would not let up. The ships were within a few thousand yards of each other now; barely enough to get out of the way. Optimus, thinking quickly, told Prowl to, "Let up the ship NOW!" Prowl did so, and the _Ark-12 _began to raise above the _Harbinger _ever so slowly while still going full speed. Realizing that they were going to hit the 'Con's ship, Optimus said, "Brace yourselves!"

The very bottom of the _Ark-12_ scraped the top of the _Harbinger _ever so slowly, creating such a wretched sound that it cringed on the inside of every robot's audio-processors. Sadly, the sound also woke up the knocked-unconscious Blurr. He jumped up and looked around frantically to see what was going on. When he finally realized, the scraping sound finally stopped and the Autobots were clear of the Decepticon's ship, going in the opposite direction. Optimus, who had grown tense, eased back into his chair and looked on to Earth, now a small star off in the distance, with Mars barely closer.

"We're headed back to earth?!" Blurr screamed in Optimus' direction as he looked out the front energy field. "The Decepticons are the OTHER WAY, remember?!"

Optimus said bluntly, "Blurr, shut down your radio transistors. I don't need your opinion right now." Blurr was having trouble comprehending that Optimus had just said such a thing to him. Quickly thinking of a response, Blurr shouted back, "Is Ratchet not your friend, too?! Would he not go after YOU?!" Optimus gave Prowl a slight nod and, hesitantly, a button was pressed on Prowl's arm that sent a jolt through Blurr's body from the stasis cuffs. His unconscious chassis fell to the floor.

Looking at Optimus form the pilot's chair, prowl asked his commander, "Please tell me you're thinking about what Blurr just said?"

"Barely glancing at the law enforcer, Optimus grimly noted, "I'm entirely certain Ratchet is not on that ship. He's got to be on Earth somewhere. I know it." Not fully happy with this statement, Prowl turned and opened up the channel to the calling weapons room.

"What is it?" asked Prowl.

" The Decepticons—they've just made it through a space bridge. . ." he trailed off, seemingly not finishing his thought.

"Yes? Go on," Optimus said.

"Just got the info in- they're headed for Nebulos!"

Nebulos-the planet that Hot Rod and company were stationed. But what could Megatron possibly want with them? Optimus, turning in Blaster's direction, commanded, "Get a transmission to Hot Rod as fast as you can! Tell them the Decepticons are headed his way with an Omega Key!"

Everyone was dead silent. As the _Ark-12_ made its slow approach to Earth, giving time for the engines to cool down, all eyes were on the Supreme Commander. Absolutely nobody on that bridge besides Optimus Prime knew of the Omega Key's location, and now everyone did. Why had Optimus not told any of them? How long was he to keep it a secret?

Prowl, breaking the silence, asked, "I'm sorry—what?"

Optimus realized the mistake he'd just made; not the fact that he hadn't told any of the Autobots the true reason they were on earth in the first place, but that he just let it slip. " If any of you were to know one of the Omega Keys was on this planet, you would have torn this planet apart to find it. I could not have let that happen," Optimus concluded.

Hound, not quite knowing what to do, went back to keeping an eye on the holographic projection of the ship's course. Sideswipe buried his face in his hands in anger at his commanding officer. Blaster began making preparations to radio Hot Rod. But before he could, Prowl lost his temper.

"The fate of our home has been lying in all of our hands these past few years on the plant?! And you didn't tell us?! Let me guess- the Creation Matrix isn't even on Earth, is it? IS IT?!" screamed Prowl.

Optimus, keeping as calm as ever, tightly told Prowl, "Yes- it is. And we still have to try to find it. But I can't tell you why just yet. Please, my friends, believe in me. My intentions are the same as yours. Do you not all know this?" As Optimus spoke, eyes gradually began to linger their ways back to Optimus. However, with the last statement, everyone darted their eyes away. Silence again fell upon the bridge. Optimus, not knowing exactly what to do for the first time in his career, sat back down in his chair and quietly awaited their re-arrival on Earth.

Blaster, finally gathering the strength to speak, opened up the comm to Nebulos. "Autobot Communications Officer Blaster here. Hot Rod, are you there, old buddy?"

Static came back from the other side for a few short seconds until a familiar voice became clear. "This is Hot Rod. To what do I owe the pleasure, Master Blaster?" Hot Rod's voice came easy on Blaster's audio processors, having not heard him in over five stellar cycles. He was just as easy-going as he remembered.

" Big trouble headed your way—the Decepticons have recently Space-Bridged to your location. They have an Omega Key. Get yourself prepared!"

"Roger that! I'll call in some forces from the Karbrick district. That oughta hold 'em—wait, an Omega Key?! Are you sure?" All eyes went to Optimus.

"Yes," said Big Bot. "Positive. They got to it before we could." Everyone mumbled among themselves, noting that they would have gotten to it sooner had Optimus actually told them about the key.

"Noted. . . I'll make sure I try to retrieve the thing from the 'Cons! I'll send a team to you once we win!" Hot Rod said boastfully. _Same old same old_, thought Blaster. "Hot Rod out!" Hot Rod then cut off transmission. The room grew silent again.

The rest of the shuttle ride down to Earth was mostly filled with silence. Everyone merely looked forward at the approaching small blue planet. However the occasional repairing sounds made themselves apparent as the crew attempted to seal up some holes and get a few cooling vents rerouted because the original route had been blown apart.

Optimus only looked down, hoping his crew would eventually forgive him and continue their helping him to find the Creation Matrix. He knew not why he needed it; he just did. He assumed it was just a Prime's instinct, but he felt it was something greater. Perhaps a message from Cybertron beamed directly into his neural processors? Maybe. He didn't know for sure. With this specific crew he needed to find it. Something about every one them just stuck out to him. Perhaps. . . destiny?


End file.
